The Mattole Forest Futures Project - Light-touch timber harvest as a tool in ecological restoration
Light-touch logging can be part of the ecological restoration toolkit
The Mattole Restoration Council has undertaken the Mattole Forest Futures Project, which will result in a Program Timberland Environmental Impact Report (PTEIR) that gives landowners streamlined approval for their logging plans, provided their harvest meets significant light-touch standards.
The kinds of selective harvest contemplated as part of the Mattole Forest Futures Project will support the recovery of the Mattole watershed in four important ways:
1. Logging would leave behind some of the largest trees in each stand and maintain forest cover over all of the wooded landscape, helping to develop bigger, older forests. In turn, those mature forests will provide habitat for threatened creatures whose populations were diminished by the post-World-War-Two logging boom.
2. Compared with clearcut forestry, which leads to forests being replanted to highly flammable young stands, forests logged as part of the Mattole Forest Futures Project will be less vulnerable to fire hazard, as they will be composed of older trees that are more fire-resistant.
3. Logging permits under the PTEIR will be less expensive, enabling landowners to realize the same net income while cutting less timber. In addition, because the permits will be cheaper to obtain, large landowners may be able to garner enough income from their land base that they will be less inclined to subdivide their land in order to maintain the financial stability of their operation.
4. Logging as part of the Mattole Forest Futures Project would require road upgrades to reduce sediment delivery into streams, providing a source of funds for ecologically necessary road work that may become harder to support with public money owing to the state's financial difficulties.
For more on the specific provisions of the Mattole Forest Futures Project, download the files below. Updated June 2010!
To read a resolution about the project adopted by the MRC board of directors, download the file below.
For an overview of the process by which the Mattole Forest Futures Project is proceeding, click here.
To read answers to some commonly asked questions about the Mattole Forest Futures Project and the PTEIR, go here.
For a page of resource documents and links, including the classic 2005 workshop from the Forest Reptile and Amphibian Working Group (FRAWG), go here.
The Mattole Restoration Council has undertaken the Mattole Forest Futures Project, which will result in a Program Timberland Environmental Impact Report (PTEIR) that gives landowners streamlined approval for their logging plans, provided their harvest meets significant light-touch standards.
The kinds of selective harvest contemplated as part of the Mattole Forest Futures Project will support the recovery of the Mattole watershed in four important ways:
1. Logging would leave behind some of the largest trees in each stand and maintain forest cover over all of the wooded landscape, helping to develop bigger, older forests. In turn, those mature forests will provide habitat for threatened creatures whose populations were diminished by the post-World-War-Two logging boom.
2. Compared with clearcut forestry, which leads to forests being replanted to highly flammable young stands, forests logged as part of the Mattole Forest Futures Project will be less vulnerable to fire hazard, as they will be composed of older trees that are more fire-resistant.
3. Logging permits under the PTEIR will be less expensive, enabling landowners to realize the same net income while cutting less timber. In addition, because the permits will be cheaper to obtain, large landowners may be able to garner enough income from their land base that they will be less inclined to subdivide their land in order to maintain the financial stability of their operation.
4. Logging as part of the Mattole Forest Futures Project would require road upgrades to reduce sediment delivery into streams, providing a source of funds for ecologically necessary road work that may become harder to support with public money owing to the state's financial difficulties.
For more on the specific provisions of the Mattole Forest Futures Project, download the files below. Updated June 2010!
To read a resolution about the project adopted by the MRC board of directors, download the file below.
For an overview of the process by which the Mattole Forest Futures Project is proceeding, click here.
To read answers to some commonly asked questions about the Mattole Forest Futures Project and the PTEIR, go here.
For a page of resource documents and links, including the classic 2005 workshop from the Forest Reptile and Amphibian Working Group (FRAWG), go here.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Two-page summary of the main provisions of the project | 87.47 KB |
| Full working draft of the project description, including geological flow charts | 353.57 KB |
| MRC Board Resolution, August 2010 | 30.24 KB |
© 2010 Mattole Restoration Council